Abraham Didn’t Find God He Recognized Him

Abraham is usually recognized as the founding leader of the Jewish religion and he definitely was one of the more prominent contributors. The interesting thing is, much of what he did religiously he received from his ancestors and, other than Abraham’s descendants being selected as the guardians of God’s revelation, there were only two new developments in this religion during his lifetime.

He didn’t wear different clothes or “move his affiliation” or modify his diet. The only additions were:

The institution of circumcision and

The naming of Canaan as the eventual home of those who followed.

Taken together, these additions don’t add up to massive religious changes but both were an inconvenience to Abraham, especially the land issue. It was a constant source of irritation.

He Isn’t In Your Face But God Is Close

People often complain that God is neither visibly present nor audibly perceived and they are correct on both counts. I have never seen Him with the naked eye nor heard His voice and I’m okay with that. I’m a little unbelieving when others say they have. It’s a little scary.

That, however, doesn’t mean that God is distant or uninvolved or uncommunicative. He made extensive efforts to communicate with us, not just on the odd occasion, but throughout history. In fact, one New Testament writer captured the full extent of God’s effort to communicate in one very brief statement:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)”

In other words, God has spoken to us consistently over a long period of time (most of human history) and has used a variety of methods to do so. He didn’t sit idly by, watching while history and the people in it stumbled along. [Read more…] about Why Doesn’t God Speak To Us Normally?